(no subject)

[onemoreday]

Who: Flynn and anyone else
What: When you haven't really dreamed in centuries, it can be a bit overwhelming
When: After Fourth Wall
Where: Traverse Town, first district
Warnings: none


It's bright, so bright.

What is this?

There's colour and sound, and for a moment Flynn blinks, staggering just slightly, a hand reaching out for something that's not there. When he opens his eyes he has to reach up to wipe away tears with his sleeve, blinking blearily as he attempts to take in what's going on.

He's sleeping, but this isn't like any dream he's had in ages.

He moves, slowly, testing his gait, testing where he's found himself. Reaching out, fingers brushing against a wall. There's no prickle of static, of a circuit completed. No panel, no godly connection to the world around him. Solid wall. He runs his fingers up the wall, feeling the cracks and rough surface. It feels so real it's startling.

He turns to look around again, scanning things critically. His eyes aren't watering quite as much, though he has to squint a little due to how brightly lit everything is. It's that orange-yellow of incandescent bulbs, a light wavelength that he's so completely unused to anymore...

Is this a dream? Would it be affecting him this much?

But where else would he be?

He begins to walk again, carefully fielding stairs, using his hands to seek out rails and walls while his vision attempts to adjust to this place. It's nothing like the blue-and-black reality of the Grid, or even the small amount of creature comfort he made for himself. It's... alive in the physical sense, not in the digital sense...

"Didn't think I had any dreams like this left in me," he says to no one in particular, managing a quiet laugh. "Better enjoy it while it lasts!"

And he continues patiently up the stairs, waiting to see what else this dream can do.

Comments

[letteropener]

A Thunderaffe raced around a corner ahead, its hooves clattering furiously on the ground as if speed was the only thing that mattered to it. As it approached the stairs, though, it slowed down from a gallop to a jog, and then stopped at the top, looking down at Flynn.

[onemoreday]

The sound of hooves made Flynn pause, and he looked around to find the source of the sound. Well... maybe it was just his eyes not being used to things. Because that sure looked like a technicolour giraffe... thing.

Dreams, man. Must have had some bad energy, if that was even possible. There was only one thing to do, really...

"Hey, buddy. Can I help you?"

[letteropener]

This was no one the Thunderaffe knew. A new arrival! And one that seemed helpful, as well.

Obviously, Hero couldn't speak. But he could look to the sky above, head back and neck straight... looking faintly like he was posing just as he was named. This, in turn, brought another creature out of the darkness above: a pony, with wings and a radiant mane.

Princess Celestia landed a respectable distance away, then bowed solemnly. "You are new here, I take it?" she said, serene and imperturbable.

[onemoreday]

There was something about the new arrival that just seemed majestic, a sort of regal serenity to her that went above and beyond that he was looking at a teenage girl's dream, a pegasus-unicorn. That it could speak was completely expected, though the bow made him fumble to return one of his own.

"Not to dreams, though this sort of dream is a bit new... are you my dream guide or something?"

[letteropener]

He'd certainly hit the nail on the head with that assessment.

"Not in any mystical sense," she said, amused. "I'm a fellow dreamer, trapped in the dream worlds as well. Or for the moment, world, as we have been denied access to the ones we've opened."

[onemoreday]

Well, that was new, but then again logic wasn't always sound in dreams... though from what she was saying, it seemed as though there was a bit more structure than one would think.

"So you're a dreaming flying unicorn and while there are 'worlds' to dreams we're stuck in this one? Dreams have changed a lot since my last one!"

He can't help but chuckle a little at the thought.

[letteropener]

"Wait until you discover that you can sleep in this dreams, and have dreams within your dreaming sleep," Celestia returned with a smile. "Yes, I'm afraid this is a very complicated situation, affecting many of us here."

[allpurposescarf]

What it can do probably depends a little. True, it does seem to be all of one piece, or at least one continued dream, but that doesn't mean that there aren't still something like variables in the dreaming. On the other hand, Flynn might be a little more interested in the Pricklemane that seems to be all but barreling in his general direction with something that looks mostly like some sort of strange cylindrical device in it's mouth.

The Pricklemane slows a little at the sight of another person, but it doesn't seem terribly inclined to stop, almost as if it's trying to get away from something. Or maybe someone.

wow thanks for no notif dw really

[onemoreday]

He can hear the pitter-patter of feet, and he turns to regard the creature with an amused expression. It's comical, like something out of one of his games, complete with plot-related item in its mouth. He raises a hand to his eyes in order to attempt to scan around to see if someone is chasing after it.

"Or am I the player?" Flynn wonders aloud.

[allpurposescarf]

There is someone chasing after it, as luck would have it. A tall man, with a scarf that's very nearly long enough that it might well be dragging on the ground, if not for the fact that it's currently trailing behind him as he runs. Better still, with the Pricklemane having slowed a little at the sight of a new person he manages to catch up surprisingly well.

"I've told you," he begins, directing his comment at the Pricklemane, "you can't just go running off with things!"

Especially not his things, and it's only then that he seems to notice that there's someone else nearby.

"Ah, hello."

[onemoreday]

Well, the man who just showed up could have passed for a character in a game. It was almost surreal, to a man who had made a living on games, to see something like that playing out in front of him.

"Oh, don't let me interrupt," Flynn said, gesturing at the now-caught creature. He knew a lecture when he saw one, after all. "Glad I could help a little bit, at least."

[allpurposescarf]

He certainly could, at that. Still, he nods at Flynn's comment before turning back to the Pricklemane expectantly. He might be used to have non-human things following him around, sometimes, but K-9 had certainly been better behaved. As had the original Harry, come to think of it. He might not always have been terribly helpful, but at least he hadn't had a tendency to run off with things.

"Besides," he continues on, picking up the thread of conversation he'd been having with Harry very much as if he hadn't stopped to say hello to a stranger, "if you had wanted something to play with you could have simply said so, instead of running off with something. Much less taking it right out of my hand!"

There's a silence then, before Harry carefully drops the screwdriver at the Doctor's feet.

"That's better."

He does have to bend to pick it up, but he doesn't seem to mind that part any, and it vanishes back into his pocket as he straightens back up.

"I'm sorry about that. He will be an incorrigible nuisance, if I don't tell him otherwise."

[onemoreday]

Flynn waved a hand dismissively. "No worries, man. Pets... will be pets, right? He probably just wanted to play or something." If one could consider the prickly beast to be a pet... then again, sometimes people kept strange pets. Stranger than technicolour porcupines, that he wasn't sure, but who was he to judge the bond between man and beast?

That and the other person he'd seen had another one of the brightly-coloured creatures. Was there a theme?

"Does everyone in this dream have one of those?"

[skysmirror]

Usual round of Nightmare hunting done for the day, Xion was taking a moment to play with Barkely while Demyx lazed nearby. All was going well until the Meow Wow perked its ears and ran, not in the direction of the stick Xion had thrown, but in the opposite. Xion hurried to see what--or who--he had found, while Demyx meandered after her.

Trust Barkley's new arrival radar. By the time Xion had arrived, he was already giving Flynn his usual greeting barks. Xion sighed. "Barkley, that's enough."

[onemoreday]

Maybe he was getting used to seeing strange creatures and people attached to them, but he seemed to take the Meow Wow's attentions in stride. At least this one seemed to be friendly rather than outwardly fierce, and he held out a hand to let the spirit sniff him.

"Don't worry about it," Flynn said with a warm smile. "I must smell all kinds of strange. Or maybe not, I don't know what would be a 'weird smell' in a dream..."

[skysmirror]

Getting used to strange creatures and people was a thing that happened in the Realm of Sleep. Xion wasn't the most outgoing of the group, but she was fairly used to seeing the others and their Spirits around. She returned Flynn's smile with a smaller one of her own. "Me neither. I think he just likes to meet new people."

For his part Barkley eagerly leaned forward to sniff the offered hand and offer a tentative lick.

[onemoreday]

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that." Flynn couldn't help but chuckle when the creature licked his hand. There was a warmth to it that was nostalgic... something real, dredged out of the static of memory. He stretched his fingers reaching up to carefully pet the creature's head. "So you're stuck in this dream too, little miss?"

[skysmirror]

Barkley gave a happy whine and leaned up into the pats. This new Person had earned his approval. Xion's smile widened a little at seeing him so content. "Yeah, I've been here a for a while. I'm Xion, and this is Barkley."

Demyx, meanwhile had decided it was totally unfair that Barkley was getting all the pats and was sitting close by looking very hard at the new Person. Just in case they, you know, happened to notice there was a cat here. Silly Necho Cat.

[onemoreday]

"Well hello, Barkley," Flynn said, addressing the Meow Wow squarely with another round of pats and ear-scratches. Looking up at Xion he grinned. "Affectionate little guy, isn't he? And who's that?" The Necho Cat hadn't gone unnoticed, though being a cat Flynn was more willing to wait and see rather than take a swat to the hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Xion," he responded after a moment's consideration. It felt strange to say such a thing, really after so long... but he meant it. Even if it was a dream, there were still people. "What have you found interesting about this dream?"

[since1928]

In one of his dreams, there's a mouse.

Not a tiny, little mouse. It was a big one. A three-foot one.

Mickey had no real direction to be running in, however. Now that he knew he was here again, he had to just see how much of it was the same. The sound of those sneakers bop rhythmically against the pavement, crossing Flynn's path like a black cat.

[onemoreday]

In dreams, anything can happen. Flynn is aware of this, and to a degree has accepted this. Even if he hasn't dreamed for years, it was generally common knowledge. Sometimes the mind just dredged up weird things.

Having Mickey Mouse running around in his dreams was where he drew the line. There was no mistaking the shape, the face... was it just from how bright it was? He rubbed his eyes as though that would help clear his vision.

"Am I tripping out..?" he murmured, eyes following the erstwile king. "I haven't dreamed about Disney since I was a kid!"

[since1928]

Nothing wrong with dreaming about Mickey! Think of all the fun adventures that were possible with him!

"Huh?" Those round, disc-like ears pick up on the word "Disney" of all things, wiggling with curiosity as he stopped to see who else was in the area. After a pause, he hopped around, fully facing the man who was some ways away from him.

"Oh! Haha. Hiya!"

[onemoreday]

Everything in Flynn's mind tells him that this is just a person in a suit, like at Disneyland. Except it's a really small suit... well, there were people of that size, or a child? Though it's way more realistic than the moulded plastic ever was... upgraded? How much time had passed in the real world?

This is boggling, and the movement is not something that someone wearing a heavy costume could do.

It is a dream... is it a "real" Mickey?

"Hello... Mickey?"

He really doesn't know how to address the personification of childhood.

[since1928]

Even if it was a costume, the mouse's movements were still unnaturally realistic. What Flynn was wondering might even be true – it would probably take years of practice to pull that off. But Mickey knew nothing of the man's long-term existence in cyber space, nor did he know anything about his own iconic status in the real world.

"Gosh, I must be famous!" he chuckled, walking with a telltale bounce Flynn would be slightly familiar with. "Didn't think I was, really! Haha."

[onemoreday]

Yep, that was definitely Mickey, like someone had popped him out of animation and made him... real. The movement, the voice, everything... it was surreal, an attention to detail that went beyond characterization.

"Why wouldn't you be?" Flynn asked, not sure exactly how far to take this. Dream or not, having lived in another level of reality had made him aware of how delicate shared knowledge made things.